This turned up on a double feature blu-ray I bought in order to see William Castle's Mr Sardonicus. So, I thought this was going to be some light-hearted, lurid, silly but fun Castle flick.

Actually, The Brotherhood of Satan is a slow-burning, rather oblique, incredibly dark and eerie slice of early-70's regional indie horror - as the film progressed I went from reluctant to even watch it, up through the gears of interest and tension until I had to admit I really loved it. The fucked up ending was just the icing on the cake for me.

I don't want to explain the premise too much, because it's best if you're a little perplexed by events as they occur - but suffice it to say that the premise currently provided in the letterboxd entry for this movie is really misleading. It makes it sound really silly, but I think it's actually pretty intelligent. The only other clue I'll give you is this movie is like The Hills Have Eyes meets Rosemary's Baby meets Get Out - there, that should make you wonder!

Strother Martin gives a great performance amongst a very capable supporting cast including Western stalwart LQ Jones (who was also a producer, interestingly). The horror beats hit pretty hard for the time this was made, and the atmosphere is exceptionally spooky and weird. This is not remembered well enough - I would strongly recommend seeking it out if any of this sounds like your kind of jam.